Payback Comes In Many Colors
by NuitNoirechan
Summary: Blood's attempts to keep Alice from leaving the Hatter Mansion have dire consequences for the uppity mafia boss. Alice isn't going to take lightly to her "confinement," and so she recruits a duo of assistancts.


**Although the original language is Japanese, I prefer using only English in Alice Series fanfiction because it's clearly implied that everyone speaks English; for starters, Alice doesn't even know what a kimono is until it's explained to her. Thus, "Ojou-san" because "young lady," "Onee-san" becomes "Big Sis/Sis," "Peter-san" becomes "Mr. Peter," "Elli-chan" becomes "Elly"... oh wait I don't use that here because Pierce isn't here... oh well.**

**Edit: Okay people, I'm getting a lot of "Story Followers" on this. But if you look, you'll see that this is COMPLETED. This is just a oneshot, unfortunately, and there are no plans to continue it. ^^;;**

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Alice was not happy.

Actually, that wasn't a very good way to put it. "Fuming" would be a better adjective to use, or perhaps "seething," or even "pissed." The source of her ire? One top hatted mafia boss.

If he had just _asked_, that would be one thing, or even found a good way to persuade her- heavens above he had many ways to do that, most of them good- maybe then she'd have agreed, even if reluctantly. But no, he'd gone ahead and done what he liked without saying a thing to Alice first. Not like that was anything out of the ordinary with him, but the fact still stood.

And what was it that he'd done?

That white-suited bastard had forbidden Alice from leaving the grounds and had made everyone under him help. Thus, she found herself unable to set foot outside of the gates of the Hatter Mansion. Everyone in Blood's service was to keep her inside the gates, preferably the manor itself, whether they were a maid, a butler, the chef- even Elliot and the twins were included, and Elliot was busy enough as it was.

At the moment Alice was sulking, not even reading the book she was currently borrowing from Blood's extensive collection. Arms folded, legs crossed, seated on a bench outside with shoulders hunched, she was the picture of frustration and displeasure. All manor personnel eyed her warily on passing, a few maids even skittering a wide arc around her bench to avoid getting speared with a death glare.

Alice wouldn't glare at them, however, because this wasn't their fault. No, everything was Blood's fault, and his alone.

"It's not like I wouldn't come back," she muttered to herself, one foot tapping the air in a restless manner. "But I don't live here, even if Blood's trying to make me. I want to return to the Tower and at least get a few things if I'm going to stay here for any length of time. [1] But no, he just doesn't trust me…!"

Okay, so maybe the other reason for the looks she was getting was that everyone feared for her sanity. One would think that dealing with a quartet of role holders like those of the Hatter Family would make one a little more lenient towards something like this- heck, just living in Wonderland should do the trick; apparently not.

Her irritated thoughts had more than once touched upon the topic of revenge, because it was definitely deserved here; the real issue was, what kind of revenge would be good for Blood Dupre? Stomping on his foot was a punishment of the moment, as was hitting him or any other form of abuse. Alice briefly considered making sure that the next evening turn's meal was entirely of carrot foods, but then she and the twins would have to eat them as well, which would nullify most of the effect.

Maybe Dee and Dum would have a good idea… they'd even play pranks on their boss if they were certain they wouldn't get in trouble, although of course their favorite target was Elliot.

"Big Sis? What're you thinking about?"

"You don't seem to be in a very good mood…"

Speak of the little devils and they shall appear. A dry smile appeared on Alice's lips as she replied, "Hello, Dee, Dum. I'm just plotting my revenge on your stupid boss, so if you'd like to join me in my quest to find a suitable punishment that doesn't result in him being unable to father children, you're very welcome."

They looked at one another. "… Big Sis is mad at Boss after all," Dee said, shaking his head.

"We did tell him, but he didn't care," replied Dum with a sigh. Then both smiled.

"We'll help you! It's always fun coming up with pranks, but you've never wanted to pull one with us before!"

"We've always wanted to do a prank with you! Besides, if you're the one pulling the prank, Boss won't dock our pay." Of course Dum would be the one worried about not getting his full pay…

Not that it mattered; Alice had two very capable pranksters as her accomplices, so, as long as anything dangerous was avoided (quite a chores with these two), her revenge should be very sweet.

**[/] [/] [/] [/] [/]**

This had all started with a conversation evening night turn, three times changes ago.

"Alice."

She looked up from her tea cup to refocus her gaze on the man sitting across from her. "Hmm?"

"Live here." That was all Blood said, clear blue eyes closed.

Even so, it took Alice several moments to process his words. "… I'm sorry, what?" she asked. It wasn't that she hadn't heard him, but…

"You are to live here from now on," the mafia boss enunciated, expanding and clarifying what he had first said. Alice's gaze sharpened.

"… That isn't how you phrase a request, Blood."

"That is because it is not a request," he answered serenely. He still wasn't looking at her, his eyes wandering around the shelves of his room, until they very briefly rested on her. A touch of a smile curved those lips of his up as he observed the Outsider seated on the red couch that was a mirror image of the one he sat on… or perhaps that smile was more of a smirk. "You are going to live here from now on."

"And you're not really giving me a choice in this, why?"

"Because I said so."

Of course. "Well, I don't want to. So no, the answer to your ever-so-polite _not-request _is that I refuse."

She knew that there was no way he would accept that reply, but neither would she simply accept being made to live at the Hatter Mansion. It was true that Alice loved it there- yet it wasn't her home. She wasn't quite ready to call it that just now.

Blood seemed more amused than anything at Alice's immediate refusal; she knew that the things she said and did were an endless source of entertainment for this man, who hated boredom, latency, and anything troublesome above all else. Thus, he loved having her around to amuse him, and all she had to do was be herself.

On the other hand, much of the time, when he was just himself, he was a pain in the ass. Like now.

"Dear young lady, you do not have a say in this," Blood said in almost pitying tones. "I want to see you more often than I already do. Elliot and my gate guards would like to as well, I am sure."

Alice felt a headache coming on already and had to resist the urge to rub her brow. Settling instead on taking a long, slow sip of her hot tea, she replied at last, "Be that as it may, the few things I own are not here, but at the Tower. And yes, I know you have offered me plenty of 'gifts'; I have dozens of reasons for refusing, although I'll admit your taste in clothing is better than my own. That isn't the point, however. I live at the Tower and wish to continue doing so."

(How a man who repeatedly stated that he was no gentleman had such good taste in clothing and accessories was beyond her, but he really was an excellent judge of such.)

Even her manner of speech told Blood that she wasn't going to give in any time soon, as she was speaking rather more primly than usual. It was as much to mock his speech pattern as anything, and it just made Blood chuckle.

"Even if you say that, I know that you wouldn't mind staying here. You're merely being difficult, sweetheart."

"And who do you think is to blame for that?"

"I willingly take full credit. You're most entertaining when you're displeased, although you're prettiest when you're happy."

"Your charming tongue is only annoying me more. My answer shall remain 'no' even if you continue to flatter me."

"Are you saying that you appreciate the flattery, Alice?"

Now Alice's eye twitched. The man was impossible.

"I am not. Your tongue is sweet, but I know that your hand is not. Most of the time."

"Such a stubborn young lady you are." Blood sighed. "If that is how you feel, then I shall be forced to take drastic measures."

… Alice did _not _want to know what that meant. It was most unfortunate that she found out the next time turn, when she attempted to go to town.

Attempted, of course, being the key word.

**[/] [/] [/] [/] [/]**

She'd had no idea when Blood would return, so, with the help of the twins, she'd started simply and made improvements as time passed, once she'd come up with her revenge and put it into play. And really, it was a very simple plan at its core.

It was just one with wide-reaching effects and would have a fantastic result.

As things turned out, Alice didn't have to rush. The three of them got the basic part finished and, after around an hour had passed and there was still no sign of Blood, Elliot, and the servants they'd taken with them to do whatever it was that they were doing, Alice decided to make some improvements. This took another hour or so, during which time the twins came up with another fun idea to add. And of course, while working on this new addition, Alice had another idea.

This was going to be good. Alice couldn't wait to see the faces of the returnees when they finally got back. Most would be surprised, one would be pleased, and one would most likely turn blue.

If only she had a camera… _that _would be a face she wanted to save to view whenever she needed a good laugh.

"The Boss is here!" called Dee through the gates, pulling Alice from her thoughts. The twins were actually at their post like they were supposed to be, although they'd not gotten cleaned up from their earlier "preparations," meaning that they were quite colorful.

Alice just smiled and continued sipping her tea from where she sat at the tea table.

From here, she could hear what was being said outside the gates, as long as she listened with an attentive ear. Elliot's loud voice was the first to reach her hearing.

"What the hell happened to you brats?!" he exclaimed, sounding both annoyed and surprised. "You two look like someone dumped colored flour all over you!"

"We were playing with Big Sis," Dee replied in an almost offended voice. Alice had no trouble imagining the half glare, half pout the twins probably had directed at Elliot. "But because we're good children, we couldn't go very far from the gates, since we were also working."

"So we haven't gotten cleaned up," put in Dum. In all honesty, they just hadn't bothered getting cleaned up, and they had most certainly not been doing their job properly. Not that Alice was planning to rat out her partners in crime anytime soon, of course.

"You brats mean that you were skipping work again, weren't you?!" demanded Elliot in a raised voice.

Neither twin took well to that accusation. "We were not!"

"And besides, we were with Big Sis!"

"She wasn't happy because the Boss wouldn't let her go outside the gates!"

"So we all played together."

"What could you have been doing that would result in the two of you covered in colorful powder?" questioned Blood; it sounded as though he were more amused than anything. "Furthermore, it's almost all-"

His abrupt stop made Alice grin to herself. _'And here's the part where Blood starts to get worried,'_ she thought, looking forward to what whatever came next.

"Blood? Is something wrong?" Alice could hear Elliot question in an anxious voice. "You look pretty pale- are you feeling all right? Are you tired?"

_'More like worried about what the twins and I might have done to his house,'_ was Alice's silent answer as he grin stretched wider still. _'Come on, take the bait and take a look for yourself, Blood Dupre… I know you're curious, and you're going to have to sometime no matter what…'_

There was silence from the four role holders at that point, although Alice could just hear the servants accompanying them murmuring amongst themselves. Then, at a clap of Blood's hands, the dual gates revolved open, allowing access to the grounds of the Hatter Estate, and the role holders plus the half dozen or so servants walked through.

… Not a sound from anyone.

Alice looked up from her tea cup, doing an excellent job of fighting back the laughter that bubbled in the back of her throat. "Welcome back," she greeted, as if this happened all the time.

Then again, if it weren't for the new decorations, this WOULD have been a normal enough occurrence. Of course, the part that WASN'T normal was that everything was now colored red, blue, or orange- mostly orange.

For several moments there was complete quiet, and it looked almost as though Blood was going to either be sick or run away- the latter had happened before at the sight of so much orange. At last, he cleared his throat to unstick it… cleared it again… swallowed hard… and said, in a _very_forced calm voice, "Alice… what is this?"

"Hm? Do you mean to ask why everything is so colorful?" she replied, enjoying this teasing. "Well, you always try to get me to stay for tea longer by saying that it's my birthday, even though it never is, so Dee and Dum and I decided that today would be theirs and Elliot's birthday to celebrate today."

"… That doesn't explain why you had to color my garden and tea table with so much _orange_!"

At least now the reason the twins were all powdery was explained- chalk. It had started off with the three of them coloring over all the paths with chalk and moved to setting the tea table in all orange, blue, and red, then dressing the maids and butlers in orange clothes, putting orange food coloring in the foods, even to hanging up random orange decorations all over. The finishing touch was the orange-colored water bubbling from the two tall fountains and flowing through the waterways- that had just been more food coloring, a lot of it.

And as almost everyone who knew anything about Blood Dupre knew, orange was his least favorite color because it reminded him of _carrots_. Yet somehow Elliot had failed to catch on to this fact even after years of working for Blood, and thus, there would be far less of a punishment from him.

"What? Orange is a pretty color," Alice replied as though amazed he'd say such a thing. "It's the color of the harvest, after all. It reminds me of a lot of good foods… like pie… _pumpkin pie_… or _orange juice_… or _peach cobbler_… or _persimmon pudding_…"

Every time you mentioned an orange food, she got another moment of satisfaction when Blood twitched. Of course he was only able to picture more carrots whenever something orange was mentioned, even though there were plenty of other orange foods out there. Which, of course, was the reason Alice was saying all this.

"Maybe we should have tomato soup with lots of cream made," Alice went on, "or perhaps had some fresh grapefruit set out… or maybe-"

"Young lady," interrupted Blood in a very strained voice; Alice stopped talking to look at him. He looked quite blue by now, quite a nice contrast to the orange everywhere. "Would you kindly _shut up _for a time?"

Tilting her head in a very innocent manner, Alice did as ordered. Behind Blood, Dee and Dum were covering their snickers with their hands, while Elliot just blinked in confusion.

Blood took a deep breath. "Young lady… while I do not condemn the fact that you decided to redecorate for a time… I must ask _why_ you chose that _particular _color as the theme?"

"Because you happened to choose to lock me here," was her prim reply. Just as the tea maniac would, Alice returned to sipping her tea with all the elegance she could manage, as if it were the most important thing right now. Of course her ears were trained for whatever Blood would say or do next, but she wasn't going to let him know that. "As you were acting on a selfish whim, I decided to do the same."

A harsh sigh was all Blood vocalized before his footsteps approached. "I thought you already knew, dear Alice," he murmured, and she started, for he was suddenly speaking right in her ear from behind her. "I'm a very selfish man. And as I am the boss… my selfish whims trump any selfishness of yours."

Alice opened her mouth to retort back, but all the got out was a startled yelp as she was rather abruptly lifted from her seat. The next moment the air was knocked from Alice's lungs as her stomach hit something hard - Blood's shoulder to be exact, for he'd tossed her over his shoulder and started for the house before had time to protest.

And protest she did, at full volume and with a good deal of kicking and pummeling of his back. "You selfish bastard! Put me down before I kick your ass to the moon!" Alice yelled as she continued to express her displeasure. "Blood Dupre go die in a hole so I can watch cockroaches feast on your flesh! Just wait until I get my hands on you, I'll xxxxxx with xxxxx and the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!"

Blood chuckled, Alice's insults and very grotesquely descriptive threats not bothering him in the least. While the twins protested from behind at Blood's near kidnapping of Alice, Elliot holding them back, their boss just replied, "A mouth such as that does not befit a young lady such as yourself."

"I thought I'd told you before, I'm not a xxxxxx young lady! And I only learned from the best, since you and everyone else are always talking about xxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxxxx and making me want to lose my lunch! Which I'll do for a different reason if you don't put me down right now, because this is killing my stomach!"

"Then do you want me to carry you in my arms?"

"~~~~~! XXXXXX YOU!" Oh yes, Blood knew full well Alice hated something so romantic.

That was all right. He wasn't a romantic man; he took what he wanted, did what he felt like, and he wasn't gentle unless he felt like being gentle. Nor was Alice a romantic young woman; she could be as rude as anyone or worse, had a hell of a punch, and was very independent.

Perhaps that was what made any sort of mutual feelings possible. Mutual feelings indeed, because, having been shifted to a more comfortable hold in Blood's arms even against her will, Alice's lips were currently occupied by his, and there were no protests there.

"Your revenge was definitely an effective one," he murmured, not even pulling back an inch. "Even if my gate guards helped, I have no doubt it was almost all your plan. But you know…"

It wasn't until her back touched cool leather that Alice realized she'd been set down on the very couch she'd been sitting on when Blood had first informed her of her "confinement." A swift glance at the door of his room- which served as both his office and his bedroom- confirmed that it was shut.

"But you know," repeated Blood, who had both hands on the back of the couch on either side of her, "if you thought you were going to be able to get away with it… you really should reconsider."

"Your threats are as scary as this manor's rabbit when surrounded by carrot foods," Alice shot back.

He briefly winced. "That is frightening in a different way, young lady, so I shall take what you said as a compliment. Besides…

"… You are _not _going to be leaving any time soon."

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END NOTES  
**[1] I said "Tower," but the setting doesn't really matter, so it could be the Clover or the Clock Tower. You decide. If it's the former, the world's in Clover and the reader has her own room; if it's the latter, the world's in Heart or in April Season and she doesn't. No matter what the Heart manga shows, the Clock Tower has just one room, and Alice DOES sleep in Julius' bed, while he either uses the bed when she's out or sleeps on a mattress (unless you're playing his route, in which case they end up sharing the bed).**

... I think that this is the first time I've ever had implied smut. xD With Blood, it's impossible for someone who has played any of the games to avoid. Let's just say he flat out states, "When a guy gives a girl a dress, he does so with the intention of being the one to take it off." So I blame him and Ace for this, because when I translated that knight's Clover manga, I wondered at how much one guy can try to pull in one volume… *shakes head in disbelief*

Alice is indeed a young lady who doesn't consider herself one, and she uses some colorful terms when she feels like it, particularly when talking to Blood or to Peter. The tend to deserve it.

Even though the manga first published in the US was rated 13+, it's by far the most innocent of any of the manga. Everyone, these games and the manga are not for children. That's one of the reasons for their popularity xD

Leave some luff? Seriously, it means a LOT to me, even if it doesn't mean all that much to you. If you think something's wrong here, let me know, but if it has to do with in-characterness, you're probably better off not. ^^;


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